In the manufacturing of garments, pockets are provided as a means for conveniently carrying useful items such as currency, change, keys, wallets, handkerchiefs and the like. The pockets are integrated into the garment and take the general form of a pouch open at one end to receive such items.
The two basic types of pocket constructions are the patch-type pocket and the standard pocket. The patch-type pocket is secured to the outside surface of the garment and is typically utilized in garments having less formal or leisure applications. Patch-pockets are relatively easily constructed and attached to a garment. In contrast, the standard pocket is positioned inside the garment, thereby presenting a much neater, finished appearance. An opening, usually a slot in the garment, provides access to the standard pocket. However, the standard pocket is relatively complicated in construction and has required numerous manual operations including material cutting, positioning, sewing and trimming. The standard pocket requires use of a welt, which must be accurately positioned and secured to the pocket. Such manual operations are time consuming and can contribute significant expense to the cost of manufacturing a garment. Since the garment industry is characterized by high volume production, it will be appreciated that the overall cost of constructing and finishing pockets can be substantial.
In an attempt to improve upon the manual sewing techniques of the prior art, there has been increasing interest in the use of adhesive as a supplement or complete substitute for sewing stitches. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,293 to Joseph W. A. Off discloses a pocket construction wherein a garment panel and rectangular pocket blank are secured together and formed into a finished pocket through various folding and adhesive connections. U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,661 to Joseph W. A. Off and Judson H. Early discloses an apparatus for manufacturing prefabricated pocket bags like that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,293. U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,793 and application Ser. No. 175,576, Pat. No. 4,337,881, filed Aug. 5, 1980 by Joseph W. A. Off and Judson H. Early disclose an apparatus for integrating prefabricated pocket bags into garment panels on a semi-automatic basis wherein each pocket bag and corresponding garment panel are clamped in a template and manually advanced between work stations of the apparatus. However, the production capability of this apparatus is somewhat limited. All of these inventions are assigned to Haggar Company of Dallas, Texas.
Although the adhesive pocket construction techniques developed thus far have proven satisfactory, a need has risen for apparatus for constructing, transporting and indexing sets of garment panels, prefabricated pocket bags and pieces such as welts in a unified manner to achieve increased rates of production.